Hijab Butch Blues

Reviews

“This beautiful, exquisitely written memoir is as revolutionary now in its vulnerability, honesty, and as the gender explorations in Stone Butch Blues were in 1993 . . . a challenging and deeply satisfying and enlightening read.”—Roxane Gay, bestselling author of Bad Feminist

“As funny as it is original.”—The New York Times

“Through personal experiences, Lamya H navigates the complexities of gender, sexuality and faith as a queer, nonbinary Muslim. It’s a powerful reminder that we are all capable of defying labels and embracing our true selves.”—NPR, “Books We Love for 2023”

“There are people who will call this book blasphemous . . . but there will also be those readers whose minds will be opened, their perspectives broadened, and their binary ways of thinking dismantled.”—The New Arab

“Smart and compassionately written . . . Every chapter is incredibly moving and unfailingly surprising in the ways it connects Quran passages with Lamya’s life.”—Autostraddle (Best Queer Books of 2023)

“Hijab Butch Blues does something I’ve rarely encountered in literature (or in any medium, really)—something I’ve been longing to see my entire life: It challenges the longstanding assumption that queerness and religion, particularly Islam, are incompatible; that they are mutually exclusive categories and that in order to have either, one has to sacrifice the other.”—Zaina Arafat, author of You Exist Too Much, for them

“A truly remarkable rupture in the literary fold.”—Bobuq Sayed, Apogee

“Incisive, achingly honest and thought-provoking.”—Shelf Awareness

“By turns joyful and harrowing . . . profoundly generous and full of perfectly observed moments.”—Xtra Magazine

“Reads as an invitation into the turbidity of faith, and gives no easy answers.”—BOMB

“An inspiring vision of a world in which queerness and the Quran are not only compatible but illuminative of one another.”—Electric Literature

“Searing . . . a bold story of taking hold of one’s life and building something completely unique.”—BuzzFeed

“[Lamya’s] determination to fight for a better world is inspiring…will leave readers feeling uplifted and empowered.”—Queer Space Magazine

“Exciting and candid . . . heralded as a new queer classic.”—Ms. Magazine

“A gripping and beautiful memoir. I couldn’t put it down.”—Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl

“A revelation . . . with precision, compassion, and deeply observed storytelling, Lamya H navigates the fault lines of life and love in a queer Muslim body.”—Linda Villarosa, author of Under the Skin

“A richly textured and deeply moving testament to the power of faith . . . Leaping effortlessly from the personal to the political, Hijab Butch Blues . . . is sure to become a queer classic.”—Kai Cheng Thom, author of Falling Back in Love with Being Human

“Lamya H has fashioned in this book what I never thought possible: she describes a world in which I could live.”—Kazim Ali, author of Fasting for Ramadan

“To be invited into the richness of Lamya’s interior world . . . is no minor gift. Hijab Butch Blues is for anyone coming home to themselves in a world content to disorient us. Lamya H will show us the way.”—Cole Arthur Riley, bestselling author of This Here Flesh

“Wonderful. I wish Hijab Butch Blues could be on every school curriculum, everywhere.”—Harriet Kline, author of This Shining Life Expand reviews